The Forgotton Ones
by RavenclawGirl29
Summary: What happens when one of the cave members falls ill with a fatal disease? What happens when it's one person no one wants to lose? How will the people of the caves cope?
1. Prologue

I know Doc is doing all he can do, but the Heal isn't working anymore, and Cool wears off after a couple of minutes. None of us can understand why. Doc thinks her system might of built up an immunity to it.

I don't even know what she has, Doc knows but he won't tell us, he only told us it's not contagious.

Everyday I sit by her side watching her slip away more and more, she always tells me she's not in pain, but I know she's lying.

Everyone seems to be arguing over what to do. We can't take her to a hospital, not only is it to risky, but the nearest one is a good thirty miles away. She's way to weak to make it to the car, even if we pulled it right up to the entrance of the cave, I'm not sure she'd survive the drive.

Any kind of surgery would hurt her more then help her, so a transplant is completely out of the question. Not that she would agree to one anyways.

I don't know how long we'll have left until she fades away from us for good.


	2. Sickness

~~~

Wanda

~~~

I didn't open my eyes as Ian gently combed his fingers through my filthy sweat clad hair. I tried to breath, but it felt like something was squeezing my lungs. My hand found Ian's shirt and I tried to pull myself onto his chest, something that I used to be able to do easily, but now I barely moved the fabric. Ian, catching on to what I was trying to do, wrapped his arms around me and held me close to him.

"Are you okay?" He whispered, concern lacing his voice. "Do you need something?"

"Thirsty." I breathed, not having the energy to look up. I was always thirsty, I couldn't remember ever needing water this bad since I was in the desert trying to find the caves.

"Mel, can you hand me that." He asked, I felt his body move underneath me as he reached for something I couldn't see. "Alright, here we go." He held me like I was an infant that couldn't support itself, as I felt the rim of a cup press to my mouth, a faint trickle of water pass my lips. I grabbed his hands trying to force him to give me more, water flooded into my mouth faster then I could swallow it, causing me to cough and spit most of it back out.

"Woo!" I heard Melanie exclaim. A second later Ian had me sitting up as he patted my back.

"It's okay," Ian said, "Shhh, it's okay, I got you."

"I'll get Doc." Said Melanie. I shook my head, trying to tell them I was fine and they didn't need to wake up Doc, but Mel didn't need to leave, Doc must have heard me from the other room.

"What's the matter?" He asked as he came in.

"She choked on her water." Ian said.

"I...m...fine." I coughed. Ian wiped my mouth with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Wanda," Doc said, "Wanderer, look at me," I looked up at him, he flashed a bright flash light in my eyes. I closed my eyes and tried to push him away.

"I said...I'm fine..." I panted, "Plus...what's...my eyes...got to do with...anything?"

I heard him snorted amused, "She's okay." he told Ian and Mel, "Just don't let her drink to fast." I lied back down on Ian's chest. "Melanie, how long have you been here?"

"Since noon, but I'm not tired." Said Mel quickly.

"Melanie Stryder." Doc said sternly. "You're shift is up, go to bed."

"Honestly, I'm fine."

"It's...okay, Mel." I murmured, "I'll be...fine. You...should get some...rest." I felt guilty, I knew her and Jamie had been switching off sitting with me, neither of them have gotten much sleep since I've gotten sick. As for Ian, he hadn't left my side for more then two minutes.

"I'll be back in a few hours." Mel promised.

"Okay." I said. I watched as she walked out. Ian hugged me tighter.

"Do you want to try more water?" I nodded. He held the cup to my lips, I sipped it more slowly this time, being careful to swallow it not inhale it. The cup was empty sooner then I would have liked. "You're temperature is going up again." Ian said, putting his hand on my cheek.

"I'll get her some more Cool." said Doc.

"I'm...fine..." I tried to object, it wasn't working for me, they might as well save it for someone it _will_ work on.

"You're not a good liar, Wanda." Ian reminded me, as Doc went to get me some more Cool. I obediently opened my mouth so Doc could place the tiny square on my tongue, I didn't feel it do anything.

"Alright." Doc said, "I'm going to go back to reading, call me if you need anything."

"Okay," Ian said.

"Ian..." I breathed. "I...love...you."

"I love you, too." He told me.

"I'm cold." I murmured, I wasn't trying to complain, I just wanted another blanket.

"That's because you have a fever." He said, he reached over again and took a wet wash cloth from the bed side table and gently wiped it over my forehead and down the nape of my neck, it gave me chills, but felt nice too. Then he kissed my forehead, "You're tired."

"Exhausted." I agreed.

"Sleep, my Wanderer." He whispered, "I'll be here when you wake up." I cuddled up to his warm body and drifted into an uneasy, uncomfortable sleep.


	3. Gone

**Author's Notes****: I realise I forgot to put a disclaimer for the last to chapters, I am obviously not Stephenie Meyer, there for nothing belongs to me :(  
I hope after this chapter ppl won't hate me to much  
**

Ian

~~~

Wanda was asleep, so deep she didn't even notice me slipping away. Jamie was dozing off next to her. I walked into Doc's room.

"She's getting worse." I said.

Doc looked up from what ever he was going over. "I know." He told me, "I'm trying Ian, I really am, but I don't have any visible options here. We just have to wait and see if the Heal will start working."

"It's not going to," I said, "You know that, if it hasn't started to work yet, it probably isn't going to work in the future."

Doc sighed and put his head in his hands, "I'm doing everything I can here." He said, "I know you love her and this is hard for you, but do you think it's easy for me? I'm a _doctor_, I'm supposed to heal people, do you think it's easy to see her getting sicker and sicker and not know how to stop it?"

"There has to be something!" I said desperately, "Something we haven't thought of, something we can do to save her!"

"What do you want me to do?" he asked, "Hold her down and sedate her? Move her into a different body? Even if she wouldn't hate me forever for doing that, but we don't even have any containers to put her."

"Are you sure we couldn't bring her to the hospital, if I were to wear sunglasses..."

"We've already been over this." Doc said, "She isn't strong enough to travel, and you know that."

"I can try..."

"Ian, right now her immune system is literally attacking her." He said, "Her body is at war with itself, I honestly don't think she'd even make it to the entrance of the cave if you tried to move her now."

I looked away from him, trying not to let him see the tears in my eyes, "Will you at least tell me what she's got? If you're not going to let me help her at least tell me what's making her sick."

Doc sighed, he hadn't told anyone what she had, which means it's probably really bad. "I can't be 100% sure, but I'm almost positive it's Lymphangioleiomyomatosis."

I stared at him, "What now?"

"It's an extremely rare lung disease, the cause is unknown, but it almost only infects women."

I asked the next question knowing, and dreading the answer, "Is if fatal?"

"Yes." said Doc solemnly.

I let my head hit the back of the wall, "No..." I breathed, putting my hand over my face.

"Go lay with her." Doc told me, "She wants you with her." I nodded.

Before I could get up though Jamie yelled, "IAN! DOC! _WANDA_!"

I ran out of Doc's room to Wanda's bed side, Doc right behind me. She was half-wheezing, half-coughing. Her perfect, angel face was turning blue.

"Wanda!" I cried, running to her side and lifting her into a sitting position.

"She's not getting enough air." Doc said, like he knew this was going to happen, he probably did, "She's suffocating."

"Well do something!" I yelled at him.

"I'm going to have to intubate." He said, "Jamie, get out of here."

"I'm not leaving if Wanda is in trouble!" he cried.

"Trust me, Jamie," Doc said, pulling a tray of medical equipment from a shelf, "You're not going to want to see this."

"Go find Melanie." I told him. "Go tell Melanie what's going on." I told him to do this partly to get him out of the room, partly because if Wanda...if this was it, and Mel wasn't here with her, she would never forgive herself.

Jamie was reluctant but nodded and ran off.

"Put her flat on the bed." Doc ordered, I obeyed as Wanda continued to gasp for breath. He pulled a long, thin, hollow tube from the tray. "You might want to look away for this, Ian."

I shook my head, I wasn't going to leave her, I took her hand, "It's okay, Wanda." I said, "It will be okay." I wasn't sure if she could hear me, if so she gave no indication of it. Doc lifted her chin up and forced the thin tube down her throat, at that point I did have to close my eyes and look the other way. Her gasping stopped, her hand that I was holding went limp.

"I'm sorry." Doc said, "Ian, I'm so sorry."

"No!" I cried. "NO! Wanderer! WANDA! Please, please no!" My knees gave out and I feel to the floor the world had just ended. My life was over, my beautiful Wanderer was gone forever.


End file.
